Search Results robert platshorn

Supporters To Hold Miami Beach Marijuana Decrim Rally

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on July 11, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: CSMP

In a small but important success, a marijuana decriminalization measure has qualified for the ballot this fall in Miami Beach, Florida, and supporters have scheduled a rally for Wednesday, July 13, at 4:20 p.m.

“We are working to generate a huge crowd for this historic event,” said campaign organizer Eric Stevens of the Committee for Sensible Marijuana Policy (Sensible Florida). “We need to get as many people as possible at the rally.”

“One of our plans is to have planes with banners flying all around Miami Beach to let people know that this is happening,” Stevens said. “Imagine how cool it would be to see a plane flying overhead announcing a marijuana rally at City Hall on Miami Beach as we work to present the voices of thousands of people who signed the petition to change the marijuana laws!”

Black Tuna Pot Smuggler Gets 5 Years After 30 Years On The Run

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on June 16, 2011 News

Photos: U.S. Marshals Service

Mark Steven Phillips was arrested in his senior community apartment 31 years after his original arrest in 1979, left.

More than three decades after he went on the run, Mark Steven Phillips, a former associate of the Black Tuna Gang of marijuana smugglers, will serve five years in federal prison for his part in bringing cannabis into the United States, a federal judge has ruled.

Phillips, 62, was re-arrested in January while living at a retirement community in West Palm Beach. He was sentenced on Wednesday by the same judge who was over his case in 1979 in Miami: U.S. District Court Judge James Lawrence King, reports David Ovalle at the Miami Herald.

Remembering Ben Masel: Activist Changed The Cannabis Debate

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on May 3, 2011 Culture, News

Photo: StoptheDrugWar.org

By Michael Bachara

Hemp News Correspondent

Lifelong activist Ben Masel died on Saturday after a battle with lung cancer. As the hemp and cannabis community and many others mourn this great loss, we must also remember what Masel spent most of his life fighting for, and continue on the path he helped to blaze.

Over the course of his life, Masel traveled countless miles and spent innumerable hours voicing his ideas and fighting for the rights of his fellows. Even in the face of opposition, he continued to speak out in favor of hemp and cannabis legalization, freedom of speech and the ability of people who take a stand to make a difference.

Masel’s lifelong passion, the Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival in Madison, Wisconsin, began as a marijuana smoke-in in 1971. The Harvest Festival, now marking its 41st year, has a long history of promoting cannabis/hemp legalization and free speech while providing an annual celebration for like-minded people.

1970s Marijuana Smuggler Arrested In Florida Senior Community

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on January 28, 2011 News

Photos: U.S. Marshals Service

Mark Steven Phillips, 62, was arrested in his senior community apartment 31 years after his original arrest in 1979, left.

After being on the run for more than 30 years, a member of the legendary Miami-based “Black Tuna Gang,” a marijuana smuggling operation, was arrested by U.S. Marshals Thursday morning in a senior community in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Mark Steven Phillips, 62, had been a wanted man for more than 30 years after he skipped out on his trial for being a member of an operation accused of smuggling some 500 tons of Colombian cannabis into the United States over a period of 16 months in the 1970s.

However, according to Black Tuna Gang leader Robert Platshorn — who is the longest serving pot prisoner in American history, having himself served almost 30 years in federal prison for smuggling marijuana — Phillips was definitely not the “Marijuana Kingpin” prosecutors and their obedient headline writers are trying to make him out to be.

‘Stoners Against 19’ Hand Victory To The Cops

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on November 3, 2010 Culture, Medical, News

Stoners Against Prop 19

Dragonfly De La Luz: The smugly self-satisfied new face of cannabis prohibition in California.

It didn’t take long after the defeat of Proposition 19, which would have taxed and regulated marijuana in California, for the cannabis community to realize that legalization’s ignominious defeat was fueled by the duplicity — some would say outright treachery — of certain greedy, reactionary elements within the community itself. Boycotts against anti-Prop 19 businesses are now being organized.

So-called “Stoners Against Prop 19” — traitors to the movement such as Dennis Peron, Dragonfly De La Luz and J. Craig Canada — whether through stunning ignorance or outright malice, spread disinformation about exactly what the measure would have done.

They busily sowed division, distrust, and fear among a community that should have been united in striving to loosen the death grip of 70+ years of cannabis prohibition.

Offered the opportunity to embrace the future, these reactionary elements formed a fifth column within the medical cannabis community.

For who knows what reasons — maybe the miserly interest of preserving big pot profits? — they shamelessly allied themselves with the law enforcement and prison lobbies, with the Religious Right, and with the same intolerant fundamentalists behind the No On 19 campaign — the very same people, in the case of one statewide organization, that headed up the Proposition 8 anti-gay marriage initiative two years ago.

Trailer Released For ‘Square Grouper’ Smuggler Documentary

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on September 20, 2010 Culture, Products

The official trailer for the upcoming marijuana smuggler documentary, Square Grouper, has been released — and man, does it ever underline the “must see!” nature of this film.
“Square grouper” was the nickname given to bales of marijuana thrown overboard or out of airplanes during the halcyon smuggling days of the 1970s and 80s in South Florida.

The new documentary from filmmaker Billy Corben and rakontur, the creators of Cocaine Cowboys and The U, looks to be one of the best pot documentaries ever.

Marijuana At the Ballot Box Across the U.S. Today (GO VOTE!)

By William Breathes on November 4, 2014 Legalize It, Legislation, Medical, News

We’ve told you already today about the close race in Florida to legalize medical marijuana, but there’s at least three other major marijuana votes today to keep an eye on.

Poll: 51% of Coloradans Favor Marijuana Legalization

By Steve Elliott ~alapoet~ on August 12, 2011 Legislation, News

Graphic: Cannabis Fantastic

A narrow majority of Colorado’s registered voters believe marijuana should be legalized, according to a new PPP poll. Voters of the state may have a chance to make that a reality next year.

The Campaign to Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol is gathering signatures to put a cannabis legalization measure on the ballot in 2012.

When asked, “Do you think marijuana usage should be legal or illegal?” 51 percent of voters said “legal,” 38 percent said “illegal,” and 11 percent were not sure, reports Jon Walker at Just Say Now.

The breakdown of support in Colorado is almost identical to national patterns of support.

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